Washington State Football Recruiting: Mike Leach Lining Up Pippens, Sterling As Clock Ticks Down

Aug 30, 2012; Provo, UT, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Mike Leach during warm-ups before a game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Leach and the Washington State coaching staff could pull off a miracle by the end of National Signing Day tomorrow night, reeling in two recruits thought to be dead in the water to other schools and holding on for dear life to another.

It was just about 36 hours ago that Cougar fans were flattened by news that quickly rising prospect Montrel Meander was whisked away by Texas, on basically first contact. While not many Coug fans got angry at Meander for the decision, it was clear that disappointment was abundant in the overall blow to the 2013 class. At that time, we started speculating that Washington State might not add another recruit in this class and even worse, that we were likely to lose at least one more of the 25 before NSD was over.

At this late hour on the eve of college football’s Christmas, we have quite different news for you. Of course the news broke last night that offensive tackle Riley Sorenson of Santa Margarita had called coaches Mike Leach and Jim Mastro and committed to the very first school that offered him out of the Pac-12, which was of course WSU. This news was quite celebrated, but it’s still not over.

It’s being reported by Cougfan tonight that three-star cornerback Marcellus Pippens from California has officially decommitted from Utah and opened it up completely, with Washington State, Nevada and Utah (probably in that order and too close to call) racing against the clock for his service. Pippens is being asked to grayshirt and come to class next spring, along with another grayshirt in the class, Dylan Hanser of Billings, MT.

This change of heart came late in the game due to some issues he was having with his recruitment at Utah. It looks like benefiting the Cougars greatly in a suddenly less than full secondary class, due to the loss of Awuzie and Meander over the past couple of days.

Meanwhile 247Coug is reporting that defensive end Gerald Sterling from Alabama is sticking out his original decision and should be signing with the Cougars tomorrow. Sterling has been a less than solid commitment for at least a month, after claiming he was looking closer to home for a school that made him happy so he could stay close to his family.

Does Leach have any more tricks up his sleeve? We’ll find out tomorrow, but regardless, he’s already pretty much pulling a rabbit out if he finalizes these two signings and can keep all of the others, as expected.

Go Cougs!